Recreational sports frequently take place in a variety of locations, many of which lack smooth paved access roads or trails. The lack of easy access poses a problem, in that the participant will have to make numerous trips to carry any necessary equipment to a desired location. This problem of access is amplified for both equipment intensive sports and sports having heavy equipment, such as scuba diving. Scuba diving requires at a minimum that the participant use scuba tanks, which can weigh between 25 and 60 pounds. Also for example, is paintball, which at the minimum requires that users transport the necessary equipment for participating in the sport. In addition to the gun and paintballs, users will often have protective face wear, a set of clothes and an air refill tank. Because the paintball guns operate using compressed air, it is desirable to have compressed air tanks for recharging the pressure in the gun. These tanks are again, very heavy, weighing between 25 and 60 pounds or more depending on their capacity.
There are some devices in the prior art that seek to ease the burden of transporting numerous loads of recreational equipment to a remote location. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,341,789 issued to Checa et al is generally directed to a two wheeled cart for transporting scuba diving equipment. The cart is an elongated planar sheet having wheels, a base, a handle, and slotted openings for gear bag straps. A gear bag sits on the base and is strapped to a first side of the planar sheet. A scuba tank 13 can be placed on the second side of the planar sheet, and sits on a support member. The scuba tank 13 is strapped to the second side of the planar sheet, opposite the gear bag. (as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B) In use, the device is tipped along its wheel axis similar to a hand truck used by furniture movers, and the device is pulled to a remote location using the handle. The device; however, is burdensome to use and transporting weighty objects such as a scuba tank can become tiresome and laborious. A user of the prior art device will have to assemble the device by placing the gear bag and the scuba tanks onto the planar sheet of the device. The user will then have to deal with numerous straps in attaching the gear bag to the device. Furthermore, as is illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the placement of the weighty objects is in a position relative to pivot point 11 wherein the full weight of said weighty object, which in the case of scuba tanks is as much as 60 pounds, is carried by the user (see the load indicator arrow 52). This type of placement makes transporting weighty objects over a long distance or over rough terrain particularly tiresome and laborious. Arrow 51 shows the direction of lift.
Other devices existing in the art also have one or more of these same problems. U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,230 issued to Miller, is directed towards an equipment container comprising a box with wheels, and a handle. The Miller device eliminates the burden of having to attach a separate gear bag using a plurality of straps by substituting in its place an equipment container. The cavity of the container is useful for storing recreational equipment, including weighty objects such as a scuba tank. As is illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B; however, the problem of placing a heavy load on the user has not been addressed.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,492,346 issued to Stadler, et al provides a container with a cavity on wheels and with a handle. Stadler places weighty objects on the exterior surface of the container. Still, and as is true for the other devices in the art, the load of the weighty object is placed on the user, as illustrated by FIGS. 2C and 2D. (FIG. 2b) These prior art devices are tiresome for the user to transport due to the weight of objects being transported. Weighty objects are placed on these devices such that the weight is not well distributed and is fully borne by the user. Thus, transporting recreational equipment using these prior art devices can become tiresome, particularly so when the recreational equipment is transported for a long distance or over difficult terrain.
There is a need in the art for a recreational equipment toting device that is not burdensome to use and that is not laborious to us by placing a weighty load on the user.